


Afraid

by EclecticSorcerer



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-27 14:46:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15026954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EclecticSorcerer/pseuds/EclecticSorcerer
Summary: Taako has always been scared, even when things were supposed to be alright.





	Afraid

Even with the reassurance that Lup and Barry were fine, their plan to become liches had worked, Taako couldn’t force his eyes away from his sister’s body, lifeless on the ground. Her soul hovered right before him, but his mind had brought him a moment from the past, when he had watched her die, powerless to save her. He was on his knees, Lup was flashing in front of his eyes, bloodied and broken, bruised and angled in all the wrong ways. Her hair was stained red, her eyes open and dull. The ringing in Taako’s ears became louder and louder as his vision tunneled, until he felt a pair of freezing hands on his cheeks. He was pulled to face a shadow, one with his sister’s eyes. He felt his breath even out and the ringing stop. Her body may be empty, but she was far from gone. Lup was okay. He was okay.

Even with her promise hanging in the air in front of him, Taako couldn’t tear his eyes away from the note Lup had left. The world was tilting, the colors were too bright, her lipstick blood red against the white paper, the lights glaring across his vision. He felt a sharp pain as his head cracked against the wall and he felt a small trickle run down his neck. His knees buckled and he slid to the floor, ears ringing, breath heavy. Hyperventilating. Something was sitting on his chest. His vision tunneled, fuzzy and black around the edges, his hands shook, he could feel every speck of dust in the air brushing against him. When later asked about the tear tracks, he just shook his head.

Even with the knowledge that something was very,  _ very _ wrong, Taako couldn’t bring himself to kill the man in front of him. How would dying help him remember her face? Whose. Face? Someone important, someone he should know. Static was crowding Taako’s mind and vision, it  _ hurt _ why did it hurt why couldn’t he remember? He felt a crash, he had backed into the table and fallen, but it felt outside, as if he was very small, watching the events happen to someone else from inside his head. The man standing before him… he should know that face. But as the static closed in, Taako found himself floating through a void, knowing nothing and no one.

Even with the knowledge that Lup was going to be fine, Taako couldn’t tear his eyes away from where his sister stood on the railing at the bow of the Starblaster. He watched as she flicked her ear and grinned, corners of her mouth stretching wider than he had seen in a very long time. There was a dangerous flicker in her eyes. He grit his teeth, jaw clenched as she stepped out, and fell. He rushed to the edge, legs carrying him across the deck before he could process, clinging to the rails for dear life because he  _ couldn’t _ do this again, he couldn’t lose her  _ again _ . His eyes widened as the sharp crack of her bones and the involuntary broken inhale of pain rang in his ears when she hit the ground. He watched as her soul raised from her body, black and red and firey. She raised her hands towards the Hunger and let out a joyful noise, a wail that was so animalistic it couldn’t have possibly come from her. Power exploded from her fingers, lightning and flames running through the Hunger like ribbons, cracking it, setting the sky ablaze. There was the scream of a thousand voices in agony, and then the ship was surrounded by blackness.

Even without the knowledge that everything was going to be fine, Taako refused to look away from the Hunger as he stood determinedly at his friends’ side. The Hunger was growing, the Judges were waiting, and the sky was collapsing in on itself. Not for the first time in his life, Taako was afraid. Purely, unabashedly terrified. But this time he stood. He stood next to his friends, his family. They would keep their promise to this world. There would be no more broken, bleeding, bruised bodies. There would be no more hurt. So much had been lost already. Taako was done losing. Nothing would be taken from him ever again.

Taako was so used to having an idea of the future, whether it be another cycle of routine or a grim prophecy. He had a knack for predicting realistic outcomes, good or bad, though more often it was the latter. But for once, he had no idea what the future held. His hands shook at his sides as he stared at the clear sky. His wand had fallen to the ground. His chest heaved, finally releasing the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Relief washed over his body, and his legs buckled, sending him to his knees, hitting the ground hard. His hair clung to his sweaty face, and he broke into tired laughter.

“Take that fucker!” he shouted weakly, punching towards the sky. His breath hitched, and he doubled over. He hacked and coughed, lungs burning. He felt blood run from his nose to his throat and spat, sprinkling the ground with red.

“That’s fuckin’ gross, Koko.”

To Taako’s left, there she stood, hand on his shoulder. Lup.

“You’re fuckin’ gross.”

He coughed again, and another splatter of blood hit the dirt.

“Alright dumbass, let’s get you to Merle.”

Lup hoisted up her brother, placing his arm around her shoulders, her arm around his waist.

“He can only cast… Zone of Truth, that fucker,” Taako slurred. His vision was going dark and fuzzy around the edges. “Heeeey, Lulu, I think I’m gonna-”

And everything went black.

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to jace half-asses writing and doesnt read a damn thing after theyve written it down. this is my last taako thing for a bit because dammit i need to focus on other characters, especially the very very good gorls of taz. for all my blathering about how people sleep on lucretia and team sweet flips, i dont do a lot to fix that. the real fool is me now isnt it


End file.
